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Idioms No; 2

Idioms No; 2

Date: Oct 02 2007

Topic: Idioms and Slang

Author: rhyme_reason

Lesson

Finger in the pie

MEANING: participate in something that is happening

EXAMPLE: He always tries to keep his finger in the pie so that he can control everything.

Full of beans

MEANING: feel energetic, in high spirits

EXAMPLE: She is full of beans tonight and doesn’t
want to stop talking.

gravy train

MEANING: a job or work that pays more than it is worth

EXAMPLE: For many years his job was a real gravy train but now the company has become very strict and will not pay overtime.

Half-baked

MEANING: not thought out or studied carefully

EXAMPLE: He has a half-baked idea about starting a new business but most of us think that it will fail.

Hand to someone on a silver platter

MEANING: give a person something that has not been earned

EXAMPLE: His education was handed to him on a silver platter and now he is very spoiled and selfish.

Hard nut to crack

MEANING: something or someone difficult to understand or do

EXAMPLE: He is a very serious person and is a very hard nut to crack.

(Get or) have egg on one face

MEANING: be embarrassed

EXAMPLE: He has egg on his face because everyone knows that he was sick at the party.

Hit the sauce

MEANING: drink alcohol - usually regularly

EXAMPLE: I think that she has begun to hit the sauce since her husband lost his job.

Hot potato

MEANING: a question or argument that is controversial and difficult to settle

EXAMPLE: The issue of building the nuclear power plant is a real hot potato for the local town council.

In a nutshell

MEANING: briefly, in a few words

EXAMPLE: We went to the meeting and they told us in a nutshell what would be happening to everyone next year.

In the soup

MEANING: in serious trouble, in disorder

EXAMPLE: She is really in the soup now. She told her boss that she was sick but he saw her downtown shopping.

Make one’s  mouth water

MEANING: look or smell very good, want to eat or drink very much

EXAMPLE: The restaurant is supposed to be wonderful and every time that I see the menu it makes my mouth water.

Nutty as a fruitcake

MEANING: crazy

EXAMPLE: He is a very nice man but he acts strange sometimes and I often think that he is as nutty as a fruitcake.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire

MEANING: go from something bad to something worse

EXAMPLE:  She quit the job because of some small problems but she has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire because now her problems are much worse.
 
Out to lunch

MEANING: crazy, mad

EXAMPLE:  She is totally out to lunch and you should never believe what she tells you.

Piece of cake

MEANING: a task that is easily accomplished

EXAMPLE: It was a piece of cake. I had everything done before lunch this morning.

Polish the apple

MEANING: flatter someone

EXAMPLE: Nobody likes her because she is always trying to polish the apple with her teacher.

Souped up

MEANING: change something to make it faster or more powerful by changing or adding something

EXAMPLE: The new car that his neighbour bought is a souped up model of the one that he had last year.

Salt away

MEANING: save moneyEXAMPLE: He has been working there for seven years and has been able to salt away quite a lot of money.

Sell like hotcakes

MEANING: sell quickly or rapidly

EXAMPLE:
The new CD has only been released for about a week but already it is selling like hotcakes.

Spill the beans

MEANING: tell a secret to someone who is not supposed to know about it

EXAMPLE: Please don
spill the beans about my plans to quit working and go back to school next year.

Stew in one’s  own juice

MEANING: suffer from something that one has caused to happen

EXAMPLE: He is the one who caused the problem for himself and is now being forced to stew in his own juice.

Take with a grain of salt

MEANING: accept or believe only part of something

EXAMPLE: You should take everything that he says with a grain of salt as everyone knows that he likes to exaggerate things when he is speaking.

Upset the applecart

MEANING: ruin a plan or event by surprise or accident

EXAMPLE: Everything was going well at the company until he came along and upset the apple cart.
 
Worth one’s salt

MEANING: being a good worker, worth what one is paid

EXAMPLE: He has only been working here for a month but over and over he has proved that he is worth his salt.

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